Surgery to help Gertie go from foster to forever

Hello animal lovers! We’re Joanna & Brian, and just a few weeks ago, we saw a friend’s Facebook plea for someone to foster a pit bull puppy who had nowhere else to go. She had already been left to die, then adopted & cared for but kicked out by a landlord who wouldn’t allow a pittie. The shelters were completely full of pets and couldn’t take her. We couldn’t let her get put down! So we stepped in to keep her alive and try to buy her some more time.

It took a lot of work those first two weeks, giving this sweet but very active puppy time and space to adjust to a new environment and to work with our dogs so that they were able to be around each other comfortably. We have taught Gertie to sit and lie down, and we are helping her work on stay (this one’s a work in progress, as she’s a very energetic pup!!!). She is a total sweetheart and has really started to wiggle her way into our hearts.

One week ago, she injured her knee while playing with her new buddies. We took her to the vet, where they slid her kneecap back into alignment briefly, but it just won’t stay where it’s supposed to and keeps sliding toward the inside of her knee. This condition is known as Luxating Patella, and Gertie’s is severe enough to require surgery to fix. We have given her medication to reduce swelling and attempted to splint her leg, but nothing has worked to keep that stubborn kneecap in place! Gertie is a tough girl, but she’s in pain and would very much like to be a typical Colorado puppy who hikes and runs on all four legs!

Our vet says that an orthopedic surgeon needs to surgically deepen the groove under the kneecap with a special tool to make the groove in the femur deep enough so that the kneecap will stay in place. Unfortunately, our region has neither an orthopedic surgeon nor this special saw that is required, so she will need to travel several hours in order to receive the specialist consultation and surgery. In addition, we found out at those first two vet visits that she has baby teeth that never fell out and are crowding her adult teeth, causing problems in her mouth, so she needs dental extractions as well. Basically, we got a foster dog who has nowhere to go and has several medical issues requiring surgery, all of which is overwhelming! With these problems, no local shelter would be able to care for her either.

Gertie has such a huge heart and loving spirit! Unfortunately, the reality is that her breed and medical issues mean that she simply has no one willing or able to take her but us. We have decided that we would like to adopt her and provide a loving home for her to continue getting healthy in, but we certainly were not expecting to spend over $5000 in order to make that possible when we agreed to foster her. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! It all adds up quickly when caring folks come together to support animals! Gertie thanks you in advance for giving her a chance and can’t wait to not be restricted from playing and running!!